


Disconnected

by hayam



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Cell Phones, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Issues, Gen, Graduation, Hurt/Comfort, Luke Skywalker Needs A Hug, Minor Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, One Shot, Past Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Post-Divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayam/pseuds/hayam
Summary: As high school math teacher Anakin Skywalker stays up late to work on grading his papers, he receives an unexpected phone call.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 64





	Disconnected

Anakin Skywalker’s eyes were heavy from being up at five in the morning yet he continued pushing through the hundreds of precalculus tests he decided to grade on the side. His daughter Leia was accepted to her mother’s alma mater college, and as independent as the seventeen-year-old girl was, babysitting and waiting tables could never earn enough for an Ivy League school. As the man was about to lay down his head when a rare caller ID appeared on his phone; his son Luke. His eyes met the picture of the smiling boy that flashed on his phone. A smile Anakin knew he would never receive in person.

Anakin forced a smile on his own face as he picked up the FaceTime call. And when the Facetime call connected, he almost jumped back. If his son's blond hair was not styled with boyish bangs, Andrew would have thought he was looking at the front camera on his phone.

"Hey, Luke, long time no see.”

“Yeah,” Luke answered before his blue eyes widened, “crap, is it like five in the morning over there? Maybe I should call lat-”

“No, no,” Anakin pleaded as he pushed away from the ungraded Pre-Cal papers, “I was already up anyway.”

Anakin looked at Luke’s face through the phone screen, attempting with all his might to burn the image of his son’s face into his brain, before he loses it again. Each time he saw his son, who was now seventeen, he had wished he would have fought harder for the custody of both of the twins. But Padmé was a lawyer and a damn good one. And Luke was his mother's shadow. Anakin was lucky that he had a squeaky clean record, which was the thing that kept Padmé was snatching away Leia in the courtroom too.

“So, um, how is your mom?”

Anakin honestly didn't care about what Padmé was doing; even though he loved her once, there was nothing but bad blood from the severance of their marriage.

“She is in Washington for work,” Luke answered with a shrug, “apparently there is an important bill they are trying to pass.”

Anakin knew that shrug way too well for it was the same one he did whenever he tried to hide his pain about something. 

“Are you by yourself?”

“Yeah, but it’s not too bad,” Luke reassured, cracking a smirk that failed to reach his eyes, “I can order whatever I want for dinner.”

A laugh escaped Anakin’s mouth without him knowing if it was a natural reaction to the humor or a forced way to not respond.

An eerie silence interrupted their already dwindling conversation. Anakin noticed Luke’s room was much brighter than his own, which reminded him of the fact that Luke was nearly three thousand miles away.

Anakin decided to be the one to break the silence.

“So, how is school?”

“Okay, I guess,” Luke answered, “it is almost the end of the school year, so not that much work to do.”

“That’s nice,” Anakin answered. 

“So, speaking of which ” Luke stated, looking up at the ceiling, a nervous tic Anakin saw so many times in Padmé, “I was wondering if you want to come to my graduation.”

The older man felt his eyes widen at his son’s request. Now thinking back, Anakin hasn’t physically been near the boy ever since the divorce and the twins were around five years old at the time. Their relationship has been comprised of birthday cards, phone calls, Skype, and Facetimes. And as a result, there has been a disconnection that can only be solved by any source of tangibility; a handshake, a hug, or even a ruffle of hair.

“Actually... you don’t have to go,” Luke added, his body leaning backward from the camera, “it is just -”

“No, I want to go," Anakin stated quickly, as he leaned closer. 

Anakin and Padmé made a promise to stay out of each other’s lives before going their separate ways and as a result, he had lost years with his son. And with Luke turning eighteen in about a month, maybe it would be time for Anakin to try to reconnect with his son after all these years. And maybe going to his son's graduation was the right time to do it.

Suspicion flooded Luke’s blue eyes as Anakin scrambled across his cluttered desk to find the calendar.

“Well, if you can come, it is on May 31 st at 7 P.M.”

Anakin looked down at the calendar only to find that it was at the same time as Leia’s graduation day. He almost had to laugh at the irony. Out of the thousands of high schools in the United States, of course, the graduation dates of his kids would have to be the same.

“Of course, I want to come” Anakin stated with a smile as flimsy as the Cheshire Cat.

But whatever shadow that loomed over him has washed away as he saw Luke’s face light up with a smile. A true genuine smile that Anakin has not seen in almost thirteen years. A smile that reminded him of Padmé’s.

“Really?”

Anakin nodded his head, too scared to form any words of formal promise; he  _ wanted  _ to.

Leia was the one that he drove to her first day of school, the one that he spent every Christmas with; the one he raised. While Luke was the one he hoped to go to football games with, the one he hoped to help into his college dorm; the one he missed. 

“Well, I have to get ready for school now-see you in two weeks, Dad!”

Before Anakin could even respond, the Facetime call disconnected.


End file.
